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Police in Chongqing Quash Largest Workers' Protest Since 1989

October 27, 2005

Police broke up one of the largest worker protests in China since 1989 on October 7 in Chongqing, an independent municipality in western China, according to an October 15 report in The Australian. An estimated 10,000 protesters, many of whom were laid off workers from the bankrupt Tegang Chongqing Special Steel Plant, threatened to derail the city government's efforts to successfully host the Asia-Pacific Cities Summit from October 10-14, according to the report.

Police broke up one of the largest worker protests in China since 1989 on October 7 in Chongqing, an independent municipality in western China, according to an October 15 report in The Australian. An estimated 10,000 protesters, many of whom were laid off workers from the bankrupt Tegang Chongqing Special Steel Plant, threatened to derail the city government's efforts to successfully host the Asia-Pacific Cities Summit from October 10-14, according to the report. Security officers detained several dozen protesters, including three identified as leaders, according to an October 7 Radio Free Asia report (in Chinese) that also was summarized in English in an October 14 China Labor Bulletin (CLB) report on the incident. The RFA article also reported that two women protestors were killed, but these deaths could not be confirmed.

The Tegang Chongqing Special Steel Plant was once among China's top 500 industrial companies, according to the CLB report, but declared bankruptcy with 4.6 billion yuan in debts. Workers accused factory management of planning to keep the profitable assets of the company for their own benefit, and branded the bankruptcy proceeding as "fake," according to the report in The Australian.

Workers began to protest on August 12, blocking a main city street and paralyzing traffic, according to the CLB report. While protests continued, worker representatives and factory officials negotiated later in August, but could not agree on the terms of payment of wage arrears. Local government officials stepped in to continue the talks, and reached a tentative compromise on compensating the workers, according to a September 21 report (in Chinese) on RFA. The Australian reported, however, that the city government did not deliver on its promises, and the workers resumed their protests on October 7, prompting city officials to call out several hundred police.